This invention relates to the field of paper converting, more particularly to rewinding a web of paper into paper "logs" which are preferably relatively small diameter rolls of paper typically wound on cardboard tubular cores and suitable for cutting into short axial segments resulting ultimately in consumer sized rolls of toilet paper or kitchen towels or the like.
As shown in FIG. 1 a typical prior art surface winding system 2 typically used a single winding station 4 which transferred a core at the beginning of building a log during the early stages of winding through a nip between two rolls into a position wherein the log is held between three rolls. In such systems the log was then passed through a second nip between two of the three rolls before completing the winding cycle. It has been found that transferring the log from a two roll to a three roll contact and then back to two a roll contact causes discontinuities in the winding process reflected in deficiencies in product quality in logs wound by such a process.
The present invention overcomes shortcomings of the prior art by having uninterrupted three roll contact throughout the winding cycle which has been found to substantially improve product quality in the log as it is wound from the core to the finished diameter.